Ready to hear more about our multi-generational 7-night whirlwind trip to Disney World and Universal at the beginning of April?
If you missed Part One or Part Two, head there first!
Universal Studios
We’re big Harry Potter fans, and I couldn’t wait to take my kids to see Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. We had the worst weather of the trip these two days – one really hot with crazy high humidity and the other rainy. The crowds seemed really bad at both Universal parks while we were there too, so that made the experience less pleasant. We had anticipated some crowds and purchased the Express Pass, but were a little bummed that the express lines weren’t as quick as the Lightning Lanes at Disney. They were still pretty long, about half of the regular line, and when the regular lines can be 2 hours +, the express line is still a long wait!
We started at the Islands of Adventure side because we had early entry those days. Our first ride was Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, which is a favorite of mine. Then we headed to Ollivander’s to see the wand show and pick out wands for our kids. They got to work right away making magic in Hogsmeade, and it was fun to see them successfully get the mechanisms to work. We grabbed lunch at the Three Broomsticks, which has amazing fish and chips, and enjoyed sitting down in the cool air!
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After lunch, we headed to the Jurassic Park area. My son isn’t a huge Harry Potter fan, but he does love Jurassic World! We did the King Kong ride, met a velociraptor, and my husband and daughter rode the velocicoaster (which they loved). While we waited for them, my son and I rode the Hippogriff ride, which was the worst ride of the trip. We waited 20 minutes for a 30-second ride and were both disappointed.
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Once we were ready to ride the Hogwarts Express, it was sadly broken down. Everyone was tired, hot, and cranky, so we headed back into the Three Broomsticks for a snack and butterbeers. The train eventually opened back up and we got to experience the ride from Hogsmeade to King’s Cross Station. We wanted to ride the Gringott’s ride with our Express Pass before leaving for the day, and get a quick preview of Diagon Alley before exploring more the next day. Everyone loved the ride, and the best part is the experience as you go through the queue.
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Then we made the very long trek out of the park – the Harry Potter areas are both tucked in the way back corner of the park, which makes getting in and getting out a bit of torture. We also didn’t plan our exit well and got stuck in the Mardi Gras parade. But the kids forgot about being tired and were waving and jumping for Mardi Gras beads, which was pretty fun.
On our second Universal day, we started in Islands of Adventure again. We knew rain was moving in around 2:00 pm, so our goal was to get all the outside rides on our list done! We stopped at the Spiderman ride on the way into the park though, and my husband and daughter rode the big Hulk rollercoaster. Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure was our next stop and one of my favorite rides of the week. My son loved it so much that he was willing to get into the single rider line, which was still really long, to try and ride again. Sadly we were about 20 people back and the thunderstorms we had been expecting rolled in, and we were out of luck for the second ride, but we’ll be back to do it again!
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Then we grabbed the Hogwarts Express over to Universal Orlando to explore Diagon Alley. Not surprisingly it was downpouring by the time we arrived, but we put on our ponchos and grabbed some ice cream from Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlor. We hid from the rain in Knockturn alley and did some of the magic stations there. Then we ventured into the rain and did the other Diagon Alley magic stations. The bonus from the rain was that there wasn’t a line to do the magic, so my kids got to do a lot! Our last activity of the day was to ride Gringott’s again, and then we made the long march out of the park.
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Dining at Universal Parks
We found getting food a little trickier in the Universal parks. There aren’t many options in the Harry Potter areas, so we did have to wait quite a while to order lunch at the Three Broomsticks (so worth it though, their fish and chips are so yummy!) In other areas of the park, there were snack stands, but they all had huge lines at them. Planning to eat at off times worked better in these parks, and helped avoid the crowds.
My Tips for Disney and Universal
Planning your own Disney and Universal vacation? Here are some of the things I learned from our trip:
- Make a list of 2-3 things that are really important for your family each day. Everything will take longer than you expect and having a really long wish list will only leave everyone disappointed. You’re there to experience the magic with your family, being stressed out will squash that very quickly!
- If you’re not an Apple family, grab Disney keys to the world cards at Customer Service on your first day and wear them on a lanyard around your neck. That worked so well for our entire family! Fumbling with the phones would have been a nightmare.
- Try to balance the time you’re spending on your phone and the time you’re actually enjoying your experience! The Disney World App is a huge part of your day in those parks, but it can take away from the magic that you’re supposed to be experiencing with your family.
- Get the Memory Maker package at Disney World! We had so much fun finding the Photo Pass photographers and then looking at the photos afterward. They have iconic backgrounds, and some will add fun pieces of magic to your photos. Plus, everyone is in the picture, it’s really, really nice.
- If you book with a travel agent you’ll get early park hours at the Universal parks, which is well worth it to cut down on waiting time at the more popular rides.
- Travel light! We had our kids each carry a fanny pack with water and one snack bar. We attached travel-sized etch-a-sketches and stuffed them with a few charade cards. I carried a few first aid kit items (don’t skimp on the bandaids) and my own water. No one ever complained about their fanny packs being too heavy, it was amazing.
- Bring lightweight refillable water bottles or reuse plastic water bottles during your stay. In the Disney World parks, you’ll stumble upon water fountains often. When you find one, drink the rest of your water, then fill it up. We had a harder time finding water at Universal, but when you sit down at a restaurant they’ll give you complimentary ice water. Order a couple extra to fill up your water bottles!
- Definitely know the lay of the land before heading into the parks. I think we took the long route to Star Wars Galaxy’s End, and were totally wiped by the time we got back there. If we had looked more closely at the map, we would’ve seen a better route to and from that would have saved some miles on our fee
- Last but not least, work with a travel agent! You'll have an expert guiding you through the process and it will be much less stressful. You can reach out to me at susan@elitetcagent.com.
